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January 13, 1995 KSC Release No. 1-95 Note to Editors/News Directors: TCDT MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES WITH STS-63 CREW SET FOR NEXT WEEK News media representatives will have an opportunity to speak informally with and photograph the crew of Space Shuttle mission STS-63 next week during the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT) at Kennedy Space Center. The six-member crew is scheduled to arrive at KSC Tuesday, Jan. 17, at 9:30 a.m. Media interested in viewing the arrival should be at the KSC Press Site parking lot (near the base of the stairs that lead to the dome) by 8:30 a.m. for transport to the Shuttle Landing Facility. On Wednesday, the STS-63 crew will be available for an informal question and answer session at Pad 39B. News media should be at the KSC Press Site parking lot by 12 noon for transport to the pad. On Thursday, the crew will depart their quarters for the pad at 7:45 a.m. Photographers who desire to cover the crew walkout should be at the KSC press site parking lot at 6:45 a.m. for transport to the Operations and Checkout Building. The crew will board the Shuttle Discovery at about 8:15 a.m. Thursday and remain there through the end of the test. The mock countdown culminates with a simulated main engine cutoff at about 11 a.m. Thursday Media interested in covering these events should contact the KSC Press Site to obtain the proper badge. Following TCDT, the crew is scheduled to depart KSC for their homes in Houston for final flight preparations. Discovery is currently targeted for launch at 12:49 a.m. EST, Feb. 2, on an 8-day mission. NASA managers will set the official launch date for mission STS-63 during the Flight Readiness Review scheduled to be held at KSC on Jan. 18. The mission will feature the first rendezvous with Russia's Mir space station. Also, astronaut Eileen Collins will be the first female to pilot the orbiter. Crew members for mission STS-63 are: Commander Jim Wetherbee; Pilot Eileen Collins; Mission Specialists Michael Foale, Janice Voss, Bernard Harris; and Russian Air Force Colonel Vladimir Titov. GO TO THE KSC PRESS RELEASES HOME PAGE January 25, 1995 KSC Release No. 3-95 Notice to Editors/News Directors: EVENTS, NEWS CENTER HOURS OF OPERATION SET FOR MISSION STS-63 News conferences, events and operating hours for KSC's News Center have been set for the upcoming launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery on Mission STS-63. At 4:30 p.m. EST Sunday, Jan. 29, the launch countdown will begin at the T-43-hour mark. Launch is currently set for 12:48 a.m. EST on Thursday, Feb. 2. The launch window is five minutes. The six crew members are scheduled to arrive at KSC on Sunday, Jan. 29, at midnight. News media representatives wishing to cover the event must be at the News Center by 11 p.m. Sunday for transportation to the Shuttle Landing Facility. Arrival of the STS-63 astronauts will be carried live on NASA TV. News media representatives needing credentials for crew arrival should call the News Center at 867-2468 on Sunday, Jan. 29, from noon to 5 p.m., or sooner, to make arrangements. News media representatives will have an opportunity to discuss details of the launch countdown with NASA test directors during briefings at the KSC News Center next week (all will be carried live on NASA TV). L- 4 Days - Sunday, Jan. 29 STS-63 fight crew arrival (live on NASA TV)-------------------midnight L-3 Days - Monday, Jan. 30 Countdown Status Briefing-----------------------------------9 a.m. EST John Guidi, NASA Test Director Roelof Schuiling, STS-63 Payload Manager Ed Priselac, Shuttle Launch Weather Officer STS-63 fight crew arrival (tape replay)------------------9:30 a.m. EST (or immediately following the briefing) L-2 Days - Tuesday, Jan. 31 Countdown Status Briefing-----------------------------------9 a.m. EST Debbie Frostrom, NASA Test Director Roelof Schuiling, STS-63 Payload Manager Ed Priselac, Shuttle Launch Weather Officer Replay of STS-63 crew and mission briefings -------------9:30 a.m. EST Pre-launch News Conference----------------------------------3 p.m. EST Brewster Shaw, Director, Space Shuttle Operations, Johnson Space Center Wil Trafton, director of Space Station, NASA Headquarters Greg Reck, deputy associate administrator, Office of Space Access & Technology, NASA Headquarters Richard Hora, president & CEO of SPACEHAB, Inc. Bob Sieck, director of Shuttle Management and Operations, KSC Capt. David Biggar, Air Force Staff Meteorologist L - 1 Day - Wednesday, Feb. 1 Countdown Status Briefing---------------------------------9 a.m. EST Bill Dowdell, NASA Test Director Roelof Schuiling, STS-63 Payload Manager NASA Select live launch programming begins--------------7:30 p.m. EST Launch Day - Thursday, Feb. 2 Post-launch press conference-------------------------------L + 1 hour Loren Shriver, manager of Launch Integration for the Space Shuttle Program James Harrington, KSC Launch Director KSC News Center office hours are as follows: (Launch minus 4 days) Sunday, Jan. 29 noon - 5 p.m., 10 p.m. - 1 a.m. (Launch minus 3 days) Monday, Jan. 30 7 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. (Launch minus 2 days) Tuesday, Jan. 31 7 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. (Launch minus 1 day) Wednesday, Feb. 1 *7 a.m. - around-the- (Launch day) Flight day 1, Thursday, Feb. 2 clock - 4:30 p.m. Flight day 2, Friday, Feb. 3 7 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Flight day 3, Saturday, Feb. 4 CLOSED Flight day 4, Sunday, Feb. 5 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Flight days 5-7, Feb. 6-8 7 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Flight day 8, Feb. 9 3 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Flight day 9, Landing Day, Feb. 10 3 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. * The Audio/Visual section will be open at 6:30 a.m. for remote camera set-up. News media representatives may obtain STS-63 mission credentials at the Pass and Identification Building at Gate 2 on State Road 3, Merritt Island, during the following times: * Monday, Jan. 30 -- 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. * Tuesday, Jan. 31 -- 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. * Wednesday, Feb. 1 -- 8 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. News media with annual Shuttle credentials are reminded to sign the log book at the photo and interview counter in the News Center. NEWS MEDIA ARE REQUIRED TO BE UNDER PUBLIC AFFAIRS ESCORT EXCEPT WHEN DRIVING TO THE NEWS CENTER OR THE COMPLEX 39 CAFETERIA. IN ADDITION, NEWS MEDIA ARE ALLOWED ON CENTER ONLY WHEN THE NEWS CENTER IS OPEN. GO TO THE KSC PRESS RELEASES HOME PAGE January 27, 1995 KSC Release No. 6-95 SPACE SHUTTLE MISSION STS-63 LAUNCH COUNTDOWN TO BEGIN SUNDAY The countdown for launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-63 is scheduled to begin Sunday, Jan. 29 at 4:30 p.m. EST, at the T-43 hour mark. The countdown includes 37 hours and 15 minutes of built-in hold time leading to the opening of the launch window at approximately 12:48 a.m. (EST) on Feb. 2. The launch window extends for 5 minutes. The exact time of launch will be determined about 90 minutes before liftoff based on the location of the Mir space station. The launch of Discovery will mark the beginning of the first mission to Russia's space station Mir. A rendezvous with the space station is scheduled for day four of the flight. Though Discovery will only come within about 38 feet of the station, this flight will set the stage for seven planned docking missions between the orbiter and Mir, the first of which is currently scheduled for early this summer. In order to accommodate the short five minute window necessary to rendezvous with Mir, several changes have been made to the launch countdown. Most significant is the addition of an extra 30 minutes built into the hold at T-9 minutes. STS-63 is the first of eight missions now scheduled for 1995. This will be the 20th flight of the Shuttle Discovery and the 67th flight overall in NASA's Space Shuttle program. The primary payloads of mission STS-63 is the SPARTAN-204 free-flyer and Spacehab-3. SPARTAN (Shuttle Pointed Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy) will be deployed on flight day 5 and retrieved 48 hours later for return to Earth. SPARTAN consists of instruments for celestial observations. Also located in the payload bay is the Orbital Debris Radar Calibration Sphere-2 (ODERACS-2) experiment, in which calibration targets ranging from two to six inches in diameter will be ejected from the payload bay and tracked by ground-based radar and telescopes. Discovery was rolled out of Orbiter Processing Facility bay 2 on Jan. 5 and mated with the external tank and solid rocket boosters in the Vehicle Assembly Building. The Shuttle stack was then transported to Pad 39B on Jan. 10. Discovery last flew in September 1994. The STS-63 crew are: Commander James Wetherbee, Pilot Eileen Collins, Mission Specialists Bernard Harris, Michael Foale and Janice Voss; and Russian cosmonaut Vladimir Titov. Collins will be the first female to pilot a Space Shuttle flight. The crew is scheduled to arrive at KSC at about 12 midnight Sunday evening, Jan. 29. Their activities at KSC prior to launch will include equipment fit checks, medical examinations and opportunities to fly in the Shuttle Training Aircraft. As the countdown begins, the KSC launch team in Firing Room 3 of the Launch Control Center will verify all systems to assure the Shuttle is properly powered up and the data processing and backup flight control systems are operating trouble free.